How Sydney father went from suburban truckie to accused jihadist in Syria

Fayez Hatahet will have spent two years in Supermax before the truth about whether the Sydney dad fought with a jihadist group in Syria will be determined in court

He was the ordinary looking truckie living in the suburbs, with a wife who worked in the children’s school uniform shop — before he was arrested in a car park and now sits in Supermax, accused of fighting with terrorists in Syria.

Fayez Hatahet, 45, was arrested in a dramatic police operation that saw anti-terror cops swoop while he was running some errands on Anzac Day in 2020.

He has spent the last 18 months inside Goulburn’s Supermax, with no possibility of bail, and will remain there until his trial begins in the second half of 2022.

Now his face can be revealed for the first time, although the full story of how he went from regular suburban bloke to being accused of joining a terrorist-linked army, captured, tortured and then arrested after returning to Australia must wait until he finally goes to trial.

Fayez Hatahet, 45, who has been charged with entering Syria to fight with al-Qaeda linked groups in 2012 and 2013. Picture: Supplied

What we do know is the Punchbowl father of four became an Australian citizen in 2005 after arriving in the country from Jordan in 1998.

He worked as a truckie and security guard.

But then the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. This hideously messy conflict, which has at various times drawn in America, Iraq, Russia, Iran and Turkey, began when the Sunni majority started protesting against dictator Bashar al-Assad and his ruling Alawite minority during the “Arab Summer”.

Al-Assad began a brutal crackdown on the Sunnis, which saw the protests escalate into outright rebellion. The call went out for other Sunnis to help their embattled brothers and sisters.

Police allege, in documents tendered to court, that in 2012 Hatahet travelled to Syria and fought with a group called Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as Jabhat al-Sham.

Fayez Hatahet was arrested in April 2020.

Hatahet was arrested in carpark at Mount Lewis.

Hatahet is originally from Jordan, which is more than 90 per cent Sunni.

At the time this group was considered one of the most aggressive forces that were fighting against the al-Assad government troops and rapidly grew in strength in the early days of the war.

Despite publicly condemning the brutality of the Islamic State — which sprang up in eastern Syria — and promoting themselves as “moderate” rebels, a 2016 Amnesty International report accused the group of child abductions, torture and executions.

They were also linked to the terrorist network al-Qaeda. They had bases in Aleppo and Damascus, with a series of underground tunnels from which they would emerge to engage in bloody street fighting.

A rebel fighter of an unidentified group fires at al-Assad government troops in Aleppo. Picture: AFP/Fabio Bucciarelli

Aleppo, in particular, was to see brutal battles during the civil war where many civilians were caught in the crossfire.

Hatahet’s lawyers have previously told a court that he was captured by another, unnamed, group while in Syria. The court was shown images of injuries Hatahet sustained during torture while a prisoner of this group in Syria.

The lawyers argued Hatahet has chronic back pain to this day stemming from this torture.

A court has previously refused public access to the images and details relating to Hatahet’s capture by these unknown forces in Syria — but, when they were tendered earlier this year, it visibly shocked a veteran Sydney magistrate.

The police allegations against him are reportedly 50 pages long, documenting what they allege were activities in Lebanon and Syria.

Rebels celebrate breaking a blockade that was effectively destroyed during the civil war. Picture: AFP/Thaer Mohammed

Somehow — again the details have not been released — Hatahet was released or escaped from captivity and managed to make his way into Turkey and from there back to Australia in 2013.

It is understood Hatahet returned to living a normal life for almost seven years before anti-terror police swarmed on him in a Mount Lewis car park while the Punchbowl father was running errands.

Hatahet, 45, was charged with engaging in a hostile activity in a foreign state and has been sitting in a tiny cell within a jail that houses the most dangerous criminals in the state.

His lawyers have told a court he gets just three hours a fortnight to spend outside of his small cell to socialise with other prisoners.

Once a month, the jail also has a 12-14 day lockdown, which effectively scraps the already minimal social time inmates like Hatahet have.

Inside Goulburn’s Supermax wing where Fayez Hatahet is imprisoned. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

In one gruesome medical episode, a court heard, he even removed his own tooth after complaining to jail staff about pain in his mouth.

His wife, a court was told, is caring for their four children and remains at the family’s Punchbowl home and still works at the school uniform shop.

His lawyers say, due to Covid restrictions, Hatahet has not been able to see his children while in custody, spends every day inside his cell and is entitled to just three phone calls home a week.

Hatahet, when appearing in court from jail, is now greyer than depicted in this picture, which is believed to have been taken in the years after police allege he returned from Syria.

The AFP, the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, the NSW Crime Commission and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation began investigating Hatahet after receiving a tip-off that he had travelled to Syria and engaged in hostile activities.

In 2019 officers from Operation Mikhof took over the investigation and arrested him a year later.